Customizing Guide

Revision as of 17:37, 9 April 2013

Welcome to the Customizing Guide. Look at this as your manual to the hobby. Whether you're just starting off or you're trying to add new skills, you can come here to find tutorials from your fellow customizers.

The Basics

• What paint do I use?
• What tools should I have?
• How do I take the figures apart or put them together?
• A brief guide to basic painting techniques.
• How do I paint eyes so they look good?
• What's it take to make a basic custom vehicle? - by Airtight
• Basic Training video tutorials

Advanced Techniques

Modding

• Adding Wrist Articulation
  • Method #1
  • Method #2
• Swapping lower arms
• Adding Elbow Articulation by drbindy
• Making an o-ring style figure from non o-ring parts - by Lance Sputnik
• Creating a quick change head mount
• Swapping Shoulder Swivels on 25th Joes by meandnooneelse
• Using Nonstandard Parts by Doc Rob

Painting

• Advanced Eye Painting - MacGyver takes use through how she gives her cusotms realistic looking eyes
• Creating a quick change head mount
• Detailing, camouflage and other advanced painting techniques.
• Digital Camo - TR1ER shows how to use a sponge to create quick and easy digital camo
• DupliColor Metalcast - nova shows how to get a cheap chrome look with a new product.
• Dyeing - Raptor takes us through how he dyes parts.
• Liquid Stainless Steel spray paint - joemichael's paints SNAKE armor
• Spray Painting - A quick tutorial on spray painting basics.
• RIT dye tutorial - Viperlord shows us how he dyes plastic parts.
• Python Patrol Vehicle Painting How-To - Python Viper's guide to getting that Python-fresh finish.
• Thinning Paint - using rubbing alcohol to thin your paint.
• Tiger Force Painting How-To - How to paint Tiger Force patterns for your custom figures by iwbeta.
• Tiger Force Vehicle Painting How-To - carnage717's guide to painting Tiger Force vehicles.

Problem Areas

• Cracking open 25th torsos - Different methods to open 25th style figures.
• How to Tighten Up a Loose Figure - If your figure has loose joints here are three things to check and how to fix them.
• Modern Neck Ball Repair Tutorial - meandnooneelse takes us through how to fix a broken neck ball on modern era figures.
• Remove a Screw - nova's guide on what to do if you have to deal with a stripped out screw.
• Removing Paint - methods for removing factory and after-market paint from toys.
• Removing stickers from vehicles - Video tutorial by Zombie Guide on the removal of decals
• [Repair] - nova shows us how to fix broken ARAH style arm rivets.
• Sun Yellowed Parts - Different methods using peroxide and sunlight to reverse the effects of yellowing.
• Thumb repair - Tutorial for one method to fix broken thumbs.
• Taking apart RAH Zartan, Zandar, Zaranna and Ninja Force
• Using pins to hold a super glued item together.

Sculpting/Casting

• 3D Design and Creation - MarkM's introduction to 3D imaging and 3D printers
• Casting figure parts
• Creating an Envelop Mold - Asphalt's tutorial on how to make an Envelop Mold for casting.
• Creating flame effects - Darko's tutorial on creating flames using a hot glue gun
• Creating electricity effects - Darko's follow up tutorial to show us how to make electricity effects with a hot glue gun.
• Customizing with Green Stuff - Chief shows us how to use this material for our sculpting needs.
• Head Sculpting - loop shares his head sculpting methods.
• Quick gap or crack filling pluv uses Jin Saotome's technique to fill a hole in a customs leg
• Sculpting and Sculpting Materials
• Sculpting Ninja Arms - Daremo's tutorial on sculpting ninja arms.
• Sculpting Removable Armor - Asphalt's tutorial on sulpting a removable armor.
• Sculpting a removable helmet - Asphalt's tutorial on sulpting a removable helmet.
• Sculpting a removable wig - pluv shows how to create a removable wig

Custom Figure/Vehicle/Accessory/Playset Tutorials

• 25th Tutorial iwbeta shows how he created his Daina 25th custom
• Adding_LEDs Silent Master video for adding LED lights to a vehicle
• Chairs for Joes - Cap and pluv take a look at finding and creating chairs that are compatible for 1/18 scale figures
• Cheap diorama trees - pluv uses Darkwynter's techniques for creating an affordable scale tree.
• Custom Ninja Weapons daremo shows how he makes all kinds of ninja weapons for his Joes
• Custom Scabbards, Sheaths, Weapon Holders, Slings, and Belts daremo shows us how he creates these accessories
• Custom Guns - How to start creating custom guns
• Customizing with Styrene - pluv introduces styrene and shows some examples of what can be made with it
• Decals - drbindy takes us through the process of creating Water Slide Decals for customs
• Diorama doodads - Tutorials for creating 1/18 scale dio items
• How to make a Holographic Cobra Commander USB Drive by JM70
• Sigma Six Tutorial Vanishing Point shows how to customize Sigma Six figures
• The King H.I.S.S. Project Anlaschog's photo diary of his King HISS custom
• Zombie Tutorial JFAK takes us through the process of creating a zombie custom
• A-Team/ROC Joes Parts swaping evopete's tutorial for using A-Team movie figure legs with 25th/ROC Joe torsos.
• Making wood pallets Keenan explains how to make cool wooden pallets for your dio shots.

Other

• Building a Rotating Base for Painting - How to make a useful tool to make painting easier by Doc Rob.
• Custom Clamps A guide to assembling a custom painting jig by JM70.
• Lighting set ups for picture taking and how to create your own
• Logos Different ways for creating logos, insignias, and patches for customs
• Using Power Tools and Technology Raptor shows how he uses modern engineering to customize
• Rotary Tools (Dremels, etc.)
• Tech Details - joemichaels breaks down parts for building other kibble

Resources

• A list of real guns the 3 & 3/4 accessories are based on
• A list of real vehicles that GI Joe vehicles are based on
• Camo Reference Sites
• Cleaning dirty vehicles and playsets
• Compiled list of all the GI Joe and some real world descriptions for creating acronyms
• Custom Paint Mix Guide
• Hasbro Color Conversion Chart
• Measurements for different GI Joe vehicles and playsets
• More than you ever wanted to know about Military Ranks and positions by Chief
• Outpost 10f has some cool Star Trek, Star Wars, and other Sci Fi fonts as free downloads
• Weapon Reference Sites

Other Stuff

• Beauty Supplies - A look at some undiscovered customizing supplies in the Helath & Beauty isles
• Black Ice: A Slippery Slope for the Customizing Community? - pluv explores the ramifications of the high auction price of a limited edition custom.
• Collecting Customs - mutt explains his fascination with collecting customs
• Custom Figures in Dio-stories - Tim Elf's look at the use of customs in the storytelling arm of the fandom.
• Shopping for Customizers - A look at the online businesses, products, and people that have helped and continue to help promote customizing
• Diary of a Customizer's Wife - The Shoe Addict (aka pluv's wife) breaks down what it is like to be with a customizer.
• Evolution of Customizing - How the hobby came about by pluv.
• GI Joe Production Process - A compiled list of the different phases of the figure production process
• Hard to find Accessories - A list of the line's hardest accessories to add to your collection.
• Hard to find Vehicle Parts - A list of the line's hardest vehicles parts to add to your collection.
• Larry Hama's Tips for Writing Filecards - Who best to tell us than the man who started them in the first place?
• Meshing of Universes: When Worlds Collide - AdrienVeidt and Spectre share how they incorporate characters into their Universes.
• Museum GI Joe Exhibit - Soulgem gives us a tour of the exhibit he helped create.
• Real Military Patches Used on GI Joe Figures - A list of the line's real world military patches and what they correspond with.

Other Guides

• Evilface's Custom Crash Course
• How to Make a Custom Clutch Figure
• Creating a Vac-Metal Effect for customizing by Chris Marsh
• Tips & Tricks - A large collection of guides that can be used for painting props and dio sets.
• US Military Ranks - A chart showing equivalent ranks across the services on JMM's Joe comic page.
• Jin Saotome's Dangerous Toys - Guide's and Tutorials by a master. Be sure to check out his custom Marvel Legends, Transformers, GI Joe figures and more.